11.28.2015

Here are some photos taken recently, including some of the Christmas decorations in my area. Brookfield Place (above) is always my favourite. I can't believe Christmas is already less than a month away. It was definitely a lot more fun when I was younger..when I would do countdowns months before, decorate the house/tree, then wake up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning to open presents. The older I get, the more it becomes just like any other day for me. I'm actually more excited about giving gifts now and for the decorations in the city.

My new Mackage winter coat! I really love it. The design is exclusive to Aritzia.

Randomly walked into this Inuit auction at my building a couple weeks ago.

11.22.2015

I finally got a Kenzo Tiger sweatshirt! I've been wanting one for a long time but never found any colours I liked. Especially since there's also a very limited selection in stores here. I ordered this one online last week & I love it so much!! I want more in different colours now. I'm slowly building my Fall/Winter wardrobe..

Dim Sum lunch at Dynasty in Yorkville

From the Christmas section at Holt Renfrew

I love the Christmas products from Williams Sonoma! Can't wait to buy them this winter.

The view from the Park Hyatt Roof Lounge. I really love this place. It's a small and cozy rooftop bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel. It's usually very packed in there in the evening and hard to get a seat..we were lucky to get a couch beside the fireplace:

This couple across seemed to be on a first date. They were very awkward each other. As you can probably tell by the body language. It was interesting to observe their date.

Calamari and schnitzel sliders. The calamari was really good but spicy.

11.17.2015

I am a few days late on this but I didn't know what to say. I just don't know where to start. It was a horrific tragedy what had happened. When I first found out, I was looking on my phone and saw I had 14 new Facebook notifications. I thought it was strange since I never get that much at a time (I check my phone quite often)...then when I clicked, it listed all my friends from Paris that were "marked as safe from the Paris Attacks". I didn't think much of it and I was out at the time so it was only until the day later that I was able to fully research it, watch videos, and realized what had really happened. Since then I haven't stopped thinking about it. I am sure I'm not the only one.

On my Facebook feed there are a lot of articles about ISIS, religion, etc but I will not comment on any of that.

My first reaction was fear. But just briefly. Paris is my favourite city..I've been there a few times and have always loved it there. I'm not saying that the city matters because it would've been just as tragic if it were to happen in any other city (& I know it does). I immediately thought of the times I spent there and always felt safe and carefree..even travelling to other cities, and here in Toronto. I would never expect something like that to happen to me. Then I thought that is exactly how the victims would have felt. Just going for a night out, not realizing it would be their last. Or their friends/family members, not realizing they would never return. Over the years there has been a lot of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, accidents that take away many lives. People hear about it on the news and always think it's something that just happens to others..but in reality, it can happen to anyone and your life can be taken away just like that. It makes me really sad to think about. I came across an article last night that listed all the victims that they identified so far, and a few sentences about each of them. It made them seem so real to me..like they were just normal people that could've been me or someone I knew. I know this is a very obvious type of observation but it made me really think about how delicate life is because we never know which day could be our last.

When I think of terrorist attacks, I think of them as a part of life that will not stop. Not for a long time anyway/for the rest of my life time. So when I said before that my first reaction was fear..I then realized that for as long as there will be terrorism, I do not want to always live in fear. I still want to be able to go out and travel around, not having to worry about being attacked. From this incident I have realized how true and important it is to live every day as if its your last, and cherish all the moments you have with your loved ones.

PS - I love this:

& this quote below is very true. At least there will always be more good than bad in the world. Example: This Article about a man who tried to push a Muslim woman into the oncoming train. It made me happier to see the amount of people who immediately rushed to go help her:

Last week, Brookfield Place had their annual "Holiday Lighting Ceremony" where they turn on all dangling holiday lights in Allen Lambert Galleria. It's an event to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation. There's silent auctions, lots of free food, drinks, a circus performance, Christmas music, etc. I live really close by so I check it out every year. Here's some photos from the event. I had some videos of the performances up on my Snapchat as well..which I recently downloaded and finally got the hang of. You can follow me at 'Leftbanked'!

11.08.2015

Some of the holiday lights in the city went up last week! I can't believe it's almost winter/Christmas already. The year went by so fast. This year, I am starting my Christmas shopping super early (instead of last minute like I normally do) and actually got the first gift yesterday. & I already have an idea of the other things I will be getting.

A few days ago I went to Yorkdale with my mom. Holt Renfrew just put up their Christmas decorations and were having a "Christmas Imagined By Holts" shopping event, where 10% of proceeds from that evening were to be donated to the Children's Make a Wish Foundation. They also had hot chocolate and candy...

There were a few really warm days here last week. I took Hennessy for a walk and we stopped by the dog park. This is what he does there. Just sit and watches the other dogs play lol.